Джеймс Паттерсон - Three Women Disappear

“I …” I didn’t know what to say. “I like your … confidence … but …”

“But you’re declining,” she said. Another question with no question mark.

I looked over at Sierra as if she might teleprompt me. Sierra was riffling through her latest photos. Some seventy-five pictures in seventy-five seconds. No help.

“What I am is …” I said, “honored. And, yes, declining. But thank you.”

She smiled. “My card.” She handed me her business card. “You can throw it away as soon as I’m gone. Nice to meet you, Miranda Cooper. You did well.”

She started walking away. And within ten more photos from Sierra, our strange visitor had disappeared around the corner.

I looked down. I contemplated the card. A new frontier. Wild terrain. The thrill of the hunt.

And I crumpled it up.

Also by James Patterson

ALEX CROSS NOVELS

Along Came a Spider • Kiss the Girls • Jack and Jill • Cat and Mouse • Pop Goes the Weasel • Roses are Red • Violets are Blue • Four Blind Mice • The Big Bad Wolf • London Bridges • Mary, Mary • Cross • Double Cross • Cross Country • Alex Cross’s Trial ( with Richard DiLallo ) • I, Alex Cross • Cross Fire • Kill Alex Cross • Merry Christmas, Alex Cross • Alex Cross, Run • Cross My Heart • Hope to Die • Cross Justice • Cross the Line • The People vs. Alex Cross • Target: Alex Cross • Criss Cross

THE WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB SERIES

1st to Die • 2nd Chance ( with Andrew Gross ) • 3rd Degree ( with Andrew Gross ) • 4th of July ( with Maxine Paetro ) • The 5th Horseman ( with Maxine Paetro ) • The 6th Target ( with Maxine Paetro ) • 7th Heaven ( with Maxine Paetro ) • 8th Confession ( with Maxine Paetro ) • 9th Judgement ( with Maxine Paetro ) • 10th Anniversary ( with Maxine Paetro ) • 11th Hour ( with Maxine Paetro ) • 12th of Never ( with Maxine Paetro ) • Unlucky 13 ( with Maxine Paetro ) • 14th Deadly Sin ( with Maxine Paetro ) • 15th Affair ( with Maxine Paetro ) • 16th Seduction ( with Maxine Paetro ) • 17th Suspect ( with Maxine Paetro ) • 18th Abduction ( with Maxine Paetro ) • 19th Christmas ( with Maxine Paetro ) • 20th Victim ( with Maxine Paetro )

DETECTIVE MICHAEL BENNETT SERIES

Step on a Crack ( with Michael Ledwidge ) • Run for Your Life ( with Michael Ledwidge ) • Worst Case ( with Michael Ledwidge ) • Tick Tock ( with Michael Ledwidge ) • I, Michael Bennett ( with Michael Ledwidge ) • Gone ( with Michael Ledwidge ) • Burn ( with Michael Ledwidge ) • Alert ( with Michael Ledwidge ) • Bullseye ( with Michael Ledwidge ) • Haunted ( with James O. Born ) • Ambush ( with James O. Born ) • Blindside ( with James O. Born )

PRIVATE NOVELS

Private ( with Maxine Paetro ) • Private London ( with Mark Pearson ) • Private Games ( with Mark Sullivan ) • Private: No. 1 Suspect ( with Maxine Paetro ) • Private Berlin ( with Mark Sullivan ) • Private Down Under ( with Michael White ) • Private L.A. ( with Mark Sullivan ) • Private India ( with Ashwin Sanghi ) • Private Vegas ( with Maxine Paetro ) • Private Sydney ( with Kathryn Fox ) • Private Paris ( with Mark Sullivan ) • The Games ( with Mark Sullivan ) • Private Delhi ( with Ashwin Sanghi ) • Private Princess ( with Rees Jones ) • Private Moscow ( with Adam Hamdy )

NYPD RED SERIES

NYPD Red ( with Marshall Karp ) • NYPD Red 2 ( with Marshall Karp ) • NYPD Red 3 ( with Marshall Karp ) • NYPD Red 4 ( with Marshall Karp ) • NYPD Red 5 ( with Marshall Karp )

DETECTIVE HARRIET BLUE SERIES

Never Never ( with Candice Fox ) • Fifty Fifty ( with Candice Fox ) • Liar Liar ( with Candice Fox ) • Hush Hush ( with Candice Fox )

INSTINCT SERIES

Instinct ( with Howard Roughan, previously published as Murder Games) • Killer Instinct ( with Howard Roughan )

STAND-ALONE THRILLERS

The Thomas Berryman Number • Hide and Seek • Black Market • The Midnight Club • Sail ( with Howard Roughan ) • Swimsuit ( with Maxine Paetro ) • Don’t Blink ( with Howard Roughan ) • Postcard Killers ( with Liza Marklund ) • Toys ( with Neil McMahon ) • Now You See Her ( with Michael Ledwidge ) • Kil Me If You Can ( with Marshall Karp ) • Guilty Wives ( with David Ellis ) • Zoo ( with Michael Ledwidge ) • Second Honeymoon ( with Howard Roughan ) • Mistress ( with David Ellis ) • Invisible ( with David Ellis ) • Truth or Die ( with Howard Roughan ) • Murder House ( with David Ellis ) • The Black Book ( with David Ellis ) • The Store ( with Richard DiLallo ) • Texas Ranger ( with Andrew Bourelle ) • The President is Missing ( with Bill Clinton ) • Revenge ( with Andrew Holmes ) • Juror No. 3 ( with Nancy Allen ) • The First Lady ( with Brendan DuBois ) • The Chef ( with Max DiLallo ) • Out of Sight ( with Brendan DuBois ) • Unsolved ( with David Ellis ) • The Inn ( with Candice Fox ) • Lost ( with David Ellis ) • Texas Outlaw ( with Andrew Bourelle ) • The Summer House ( with Brendan DuBois ) • 1st Case ( with Chris Tebbetts ) • Cajun Justice ( with Tucker Auxm ) • The Midife Murders ( with Richard DiLallo ) • The Coast-to-Coast Murders ( with J. D Barker )

NON-FICTION

Torn Apart ( with Hal and Cory Friedman ) • The Murder of King Tut ( with Martin Dugard ) • All-American Murder ( with Alex Abramovich and Mike Harvkey ) • The Kennedy Curse ( with Cynthia Fagen )

MURDER IS FOREVER TRUE CRIME

Murder, Interrupted ( with Alex Abramovich and Christopher Charles ) • Home Sweet Murder ( with Andrew Bourelle and Scott Slaven ) • Murder Beyond the Grave ( with Andrew Bourelle and Christopher Charles ) • Murder Thy Neighbour ( with Andrew Bourelle and Max DiLallo )

COLLECTIONS

Triple Threat ( with Max DiLallo and Andrew Bourelle ) • Kill or Be Killed ( with Maxine Paetro, Rees Jones, Shan Serafin and Emily Raymond ) • The Moores are Missing ( with Loren D. Estleman, Sam Hawken and Ed Chatterton ) • The Family Lawyer ( with Robert Rotstein, Christopher Charles and Rachel Howzell Hall ) • Murder in Paradise ( with Doug Allyn, Connor Hyde and Duane Swierczynski ) • The House Next Door ( with Susan DiLallo, Max DiLallo and Brendan DuBois ) • 13-Minute Murder ( with Shan Serafin, Christopher Farnsworth and Scott Slaven ) • The River Murders ( with James O. Born )

For more information about James Patterson’s novels, visit www.penguin.co.uk

THIS IS JUST

THE BEGINNING

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